TWI498042B - Power dissipation monitor for current sink function of power switching transistor - Google Patents

Description

Power consumption monitoring for power switching transistor current extraction

The embodiments disclosed herein are generally directed to a switching power converter, and more particularly, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to monitoring of unsafe operating conditions of one of the switching power converters.

The present application claims priority to copending U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 61/610,377, filed on Jan. 13, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

LED lamp systems generally include one of the conventional LED lamps used with a conventional dimmer switch. Conventional dimmer switches use a TRIAC circuit to adjust the lamp input voltage. A TRIAC is a two-way device that conducts current in either direction when triggered (ie, turned on). After being triggered, the TRIAC continues to conduct until the current drops below a certain threshold (referred to as a holding current threshold). In order for the internal timing of a TRIAC dimmer to operate properly, current must be drawn from the dimmer at some time. Unfortunately, conventional LED lamps cannot draw current from the dimmer switch in a manner that allows the internal circuitry of the dimmer to function properly.

Embodiments disclosed herein describe a method of a power controller for monitoring unsafe operating conditions of one of a switching mode power converter switching transistors. In an embodiment, when a driver transistor (such as a bipolar junction transistor (BJT)) The switching power converter can operate in a linear mode when operating in an active mode. During the active mode, the BJT acts as a current sink in which current is drawn to the BJT to thereby draw current from one of the dimmer switches of the LED lamp system. The current drawn from the dimmer switch allows the internal circuitry of the dimmer switch to operate properly.

Since the BJT dissipates power during the linear mode, the temperature of the BJT rises (ie, the BJT heats up), and if the BJT reaches a temperature associated with the unsafe operating conditions of the BJT, the temperature rise will jeopardize the switching power converter. . In one embodiment, the power controller continuously observes a digital simulation of the power dissipated by the BJT during the linear mode, which describes that if the BJT is operated for a period of time in the active mode, the power consumption will cause the BJT to reach one. Unsafe operating temperature. In response to reaching a dissipated energy threshold, the power controller can turn off the BJT to allow the BJT to cool to a safe operating temperature.

The features and advantages described in the present specification are not exhaustive, and in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the <RTIgt; In addition, it should be noted that the terms used in this specification have been chosen primarily for the purpose of readability and teaching, and are not chosen to depict and limit the subject matter of the invention.

10‧‧‧Dimmer switch

11‧‧‧ Dimming input signal

20‧‧‧Lighting diode (LED) light

30‧‧‧Power Controller

40‧‧‧ Current Regulator

60‧‧‧LED lights

110‧‧‧Light input voltage / AC voltage / dimmer output voltage

112‧‧‧Rectified input voltage / rectified input signal

114‧‧‧DC output voltage

116‧‧‧Control signal

118‧‧‧Input voltage

120‧‧‧Power Converter

121‧‧‧Drive signal

200‧‧‧AC voltage signal

201‧‧‧ Section

203‧‧‧Overflow current enable/overflow current enable signal

205‧‧‧Closed status

207‧‧‧Connected state

209‧‧‧When delayed

211‧‧‧Minimum overlap

301‧‧‧simulation module

401‧‧‧ analog to digital converter (ADC)

403‧‧‧Multiplier

405‧‧‧Adder

407‧‧‧Multiplexer

409‧‧‧ register

411‧‧‧Subtractor/discharge path

413‧‧‧Subtractor

415‧‧‧ integrator

417‧‧‧ output

419‧‧‧ Output

421‧‧‧ output

423‧‧‧ output

425‧‧‧ output

501‧‧‧ADC

503‧‧‧Multiplier

505‧‧‧Multiplier

507‧‧‧Adder

509‧‧‧ register

511‧‧‧Subtractor

513‧‧‧Multiplier

515‧‧‧ output

517‧‧‧Low-pass filter

519‧‧‧ Output

521‧‧‧ output

523‧‧‧ output

525‧‧‧ output

527‧‧‧ Output

BR1‧‧‧Bridge Rectifier

C1‧‧‧ capacitor

C _I ‧‧‧ capacitor

D1‧‧‧ diode

I _B ‧‧‧base current

L1‧‧‧Inductors

Q1‧‧‧Drive transistor

Q2‧‧‧ minute piezoelectric crystal

R1‧‧‧Resistors

Rs‧‧‧Sense Resistors

VAC‧‧‧AC input voltage signal

FIG. 1 illustrates an LED lamp system in accordance with an embodiment.

2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate a lamp input voltage waveform and a current enable waveform for driving a transistor according to an embodiment.

3 is a detailed view of one of the power controllers in accordance with an embodiment.

4 is a circuit diagram of one of the analog modules in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative circuit diagram of an analog module in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative to an LED lamp system in accordance with an embodiment.

The teachings of the embodiments disclosed herein may be readily understood by the following detailed description of the drawings.

The drawings and the following description are directed to the various embodiments of the description. It is to be noted that the alternative embodiments of the structures and methods disclosed herein are susceptible to the following alternatives that can be employed without departing from the principles discussed herein.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments embodiments It should be noted that similar or identical component symbols may be used in the drawings and may indicate similar or identical functions. The drawings describe various embodiments for purposes of illustration only. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

Embodiments disclosed herein describe a method of a power controller for monitoring unsafe operating conditions of a switching power converter driving a transistor. The power controller monitors the work of the drive transistor in the switching power converter by continuously observing predicted power consumption based on an understanding of the programmed current through the drive transistor and a voltage across the drive transistor Consumption.

In one embodiment, a BJT is used as a switching device (i.e., a drive transistor) in a switching power converter of an LED lamp system. A BJT operates in different modes of operation including a cut-off mode, a saturated mode, or an active mode. A BJT is configured to act as an open circuit, a closed circuit, or a constant current sink based on the operating mode of the BJT.

In an embodiment, the power controller controls the BJT to switch between a saturated mode and a cut-off mode to cause the BJT to act as a switch. According to an embodiment, when the BJT acts as a switch, the switching power converter operates in a "switching mode". During this switching mode, the switching power converter delivers electrical power to a load such as a string of LEDs. The controller further controls the BJT to operate in the active mode to cause the BJT to act as an adjustable current sink. In the active mode, the emitter voltage V _{E of the} BJT is less than the base voltage V _B of the BJT, and the base voltage V _{B of the} BJT is less than the collector voltage V _{C of the} BJT (ie, V _E <V _B <V _C ). According to an embodiment, the switching power converter operates in a "linear mode" when the BJT acts as a current sink during the active mode.

During the linear mode, current is drawn to the BJT to draw current from one of the dimmer switches of the LED lamp system that sets the desired light output intensity of an LED lamp. The current drawn from the dimmer switch allows the internal circuitry of the dimmer switch to operate properly. Additionally, during the linear mode, the BJT discharges the input capacitor between the LED lamp and the dimmer switch to allow proper operation of the internal circuitry of the dimmer switch.

During the linear mode, the BJT is dissipated due to the voltage drop across one of the BJTs and the current through the BJT because the BJT acts as a current sink. Since the BJT dissipates power during the linear mode, the temperature of the BJT rises (ie, the BJT heats up), and if the BJT reaches (or approaches) a temperature associated with the unsafe operating conditions of the BJT, the temperature rise will jeopardize Switch the power converter. In general, the power controller continuously observes a digital simulation of the power dissipated by the BJT over time. It describes that if the BJT is operated for a certain length of time in the active mode, the power consumption will cause the BJT to reach an unsafe condition. Operating temperature. In response to reaching a dissipated energy threshold, the power controller can turn off the BJT to allow the BJT to cool to a safe operating temperature.

FIG. 1 illustrates an LED lamp system including a dimmer switch 10 and an LED lamp 20. Capacitor C _{I is} present between dimmer switch 10 and LED lamp 20. In one embodiment, the dimmer switch 10 is a conventional dimmer switch and receives a dimming input signal 11 for setting the target light output intensity of the LED lamp 20. The dimmer switch 10 receives an AC input voltage signal VAC and adjusts the root mean square value of the lamp input voltage 110 in response to the dimming input signal 11. In other words, the light intensity of the LED lamp 20 is controlled by the dimmer switch 10 by adjusting the root mean square value of the lamp input voltage 110 applied to the LED lamp 20. The dimming input signal 11 can be provided manually (via a knob or slide switch, not shown herein) or via an automatic lighting control system (not shown herein).

An example of a dimmer switch is described in U.S. Patent No. 7,936,132. In one embodiment, the dimmer switch 10 employs a phase angle switch of the lamp input voltage 110 to adjust the lamp input voltage by a TRIAC circuit. A TRIAC is a two-way device that can be touched Conduct current in either direction when it is emitted. In order for the internal timing of a TRIAC dimmer to function properly, current must be drawn from the dimmer 10 at some time. In one embodiment, LED lamp 20 is configured to draw current from dimmer 10 in a manner that allows proper operation of the internal circuitry of dimmer 10.

The LED lamp 20 includes a bridge rectifier BR1, an inductor L1 (ie, a magnetic component), a diode D1, a capacitor C1, a driving transistor Q1, a sensing resistor Rs, a power controller 30, and a Current regulator 40 and a string of LEDs. In general, the LED lamp 20 adopts a step-up switching AC-DC power converter 120 composed of an inductor L1, a diode D1, a capacitor C1 and a driving transistor Q1, which uses the driving transistor Q1 as a dynamic Switching drive signal driven switching device. In one embodiment, the drive transistor Q1 is a BJT, but in other embodiments, other types of switching devices may be used, such as a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). It should be noted that in other embodiments, other power converter topologies, such as flyback topologies, may be used for the power converter.

In particular, the bridge rectifier BR1 receives the phase angle adjusted AC voltage 110 and produces a rectified input voltage 112. Power controller 30 receives rectified input voltage 112 and is controlled to base current I _{B of} drive transistor Q1 (which is coupled to power controller 30). In general, power controller 30 controls the boost converter shown in FIG. 1 that performs AC-DC voltage conversion to generate DC voltage 114.

Current regulator 40 receives DC output voltage 114 from power converter 120. Current regulator 40 also receives one or more control signals 116 from power controller 30 and regulates the current through the LEDs under control of control signals 116. Control signal 116 may, for example, include an indication of one of the phase cuts due to phase angle switching in rectified input signal 112. The current regulator 40 can implement pulse width modulation (PWM) or constant current control to achieve a target light output intensity of the LED. In one embodiment, current regulator 40 is implemented as a flyback switching power converter that includes a collection of components that use a flyback topology to regulate the current through the LEDs.

In an embodiment, power controller 30 controls whether power converter 120 is operating in a switching mode or a linear mode based on the mode of operation of driving transistor Q1. As previously described, when the drive transistor Q1 is operated in the saturation mode, the power converter 120 operates in the switching mode, and when the driving transistor Q1 is operated in the active mode, the power converter 120 operates in the linear mode. . The text of the following description is described with respect to operation of the power converter 120 in a linear mode.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the AC voltage 110 outputted to the LED lamp 20 by the dimmer switch 10 is illustrated. In particular, FIG. 2A illustrates a lamp input voltage having a slight dimming effect when the dimmer switch 10 transmits phase angle switching to eliminate a portion 201 of the AC voltage signal 200 input to the dimmer switch 10. . As shown in Figure 2A, the LED lamp system cycles between the linear mode and the switching mode previously described above. During the linear mode, power controller 30 operates drive transistor Q1 in its active mode by precisely controlling the base current I _{B to} drive transistor Q1.

As mentioned previously, during the linear mode, when the driving transistor Q1 is in the active mode, the driving transistor Q1 acts as a current sink. Accordingly, when the power converter 120 is operated in the linear mode, the current from the dimmer 10 is drawn to the drive transistor Q1 to allow the internal circuitry of the dimmer 10 to operate properly. In addition, the flow of charge stored in the dimmer and the LED lamp 10 between the capacitor 20 is C _I to the driving of the transistor Q1 to thereby discharge the capacitor C _I. Discharging capacitor C _I also allows proper operation of the internal circuitry of dimmer switch 10. During the switching mode, the power controller 30 operates the driving transistor Q1 in its saturation mode by turning the driving transistor Q1 on and off.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the dimmer output voltage 110 and the overflow current enable 203 output by the dimmer switch 10 are depicted in accordance with an embodiment. Overflow current enable 203 represents the drive current to the base of drive transistor Q1 to operate drive transistor Q1 in the active mode to thereby cause drive transistor Q1 to act as a current sink. The overflow current enables an internal signal of one of the 203-system power controllers 30. Overflow current enable 203 can have two states: one "on" State 207, which causes power controller 30 to operate drive transistor Q1 in the active mode; and an "off" state 205 that causes power controller 30 to turn off drive transistor Q1.

When the driving transistor Q1 is operated in the active mode, the power controller 30 supplies a range of current amount to the base of the driving transistor Q1 to operate the driving transistor Q1 in the active mode. In one embodiment, the amount of current in the range supplied by power controller 30 is in the range of from 0.4 milliamps to 28 milliamps. The current supplied to the drive transistor Q1 can be increased during the active mode to bring the drive transistor Q1 deep into the active mode such that the collector-emitter voltage is maintained at a high voltage. The current supplied to the driving transistor Q1 can be increased until the unsafe operating limit of the driving transistor Q1 is reached.

In Figure 2B, the dimmer output voltage 110 is associated with a leading edge dimmer (which is typically a TRIAC dimmer). When the dimmer switch 10 is turned on, the dimmer switch 10 is passed through the phase angle switching to eliminate the leading edge of the dimmer output voltage 110. Conversely, when the dimmer switch 10 is turned off, the dimmer output voltage 110 is unaffected by the dimmer switch 10.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the overflow current enable 203 is in the high state 207 to cause the power controller 30 to operate the drive transistor Q1 in the active mode when the dimmer switch 10 is off. Otherwise, the bypass capacitor (not shown) in the dimmer switch 10 will drift up to cause the phase measurement distortion of the dimmer switch 10. In one embodiment, the phase measurement helps determine when to operate the transistor Q1 in the active mode (relative to the time when the dimmer switch 10 is turned off). When the dimmer switch 10 is turned on, the overflow current enable 203 immediately changes to the low state 205 after a delay period 209 to thereby turn off the drive transistor Q1. The overflow current enable 203 is re-determined to a high state 207 before the dimmer switch is turned off.

In Figure 2C, the dimmer output voltage 110 is associated with a trailing edge dimmer (which typically uses a MOSFET switch instead of a TRIAC). In FIG. 2C, when the dimmer switch 10 is turned on, the leading edge of the dimmer output voltage 110 is unaffected by the dimmer switch 10. Conversely, when the dimmer switch 10 is turned off, the dimmer switch output 10 is eliminated by the dimmer switch 10.

As shown in FIG. 2C, the overflow current enable 203 is set to a high state 207 only before the dimmer switch 10 transitions to the off state with a minimum overlap 211 to thereby cause the power controller 30 to operate in the active mode. Transistor Q1. The overflow current enable 203 is set to the low state 205 to thereby cause the power controller 30 to turn off the drive transistor Q1 when the dimmer switch 10 is reversely turned into the conductive state. In the trailing edge type dimmer, the overlap 211 exists between the time when the dimmer switch 10 is turned off and the time when the overflow current enable 203 transitions to the high state 207. Overlap is required to ensure that the power controller 30 can accurately determine when the dimmer switch 10 is off to determine the brightness setting of the LED. However, the overlap 211 remains minimal to ensure efficiency and security of the operation of the power converter 120.

In one embodiment, power controller 30 may be confused with the phase of dimmer switch 10 or the zero voltage crossing of dimmer output voltage 110 (ie, lost contact with it, etc.). Therefore, in both the leading edge and trailing edge dimmer configurations, when a high voltage is applied across the driving transistor Q1, the driving transistor Q1 can be operated by accident in the active mode for a long period of time. Therefore, dissipating the drive transistor Q1 can cause the drive transistor Q1 to reach a power that can cause unsafe operating conditions that drive the transistor Q1 to fail. In an embodiment, the power controller 30 determines the time during which the drive transistor Q1 is operated for a long time in the active mode and prevents the drive transistor Q1 from continuing to operate in the active mode.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed view of one of the power controllers 30. In an embodiment, power controller 30 includes an analog module 301. The analog module 301 can monitor the power consumption across the driving transistor Q1 by predicting the power consumption of the driving transistor Q1. The analog module 301 predicts the power consumption of the drive transistor Q1 based on a continuous observation of the current flowing through the drive transistor Q1 and the voltage applied across the drive transistor Q1. Since the power controller 30 controls the current I _B supplied to the base of the driving transistor Q1 and knows the common emitter current gain β of the driving transistor Q1, the power controller 30 can determine the current through the driving transistor Q1.

In one embodiment, the analog module 30 can generate an instant simulation of one of the dissipated powers of the drive transistor Q1. The analog module 30 can also generate the thermal resistance and capacitance of the driving transistor Q1. A simulation. The simulation of the dissipated power, thermistor and the capacitance allows the analog module 301 to estimate the heat flowing out of the drive transistor Q1.

By continuously observing the real-time digital simulation of the driving transistor Q1, the analog module 301 can determine whether the driving transistor Q1 has been operated in the active mode for a period of time as a result of dissipating power of the driving transistor Q1, which may result in The drive transistor Q1 operates at an unsafe temperature. When an energy threshold is met, the analog module 301 can turn off the drive transistor Q1 to allow the drive transistor Q1 to cool to a safe operating temperature.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a circuit diagram of the analog module 301. The analog module 301 can include an analog to digital converter (ADC) 401, a multiplier 403, an adder 405, a multiplexer 407, a register 409, a subtractor 411, and a subtractor 413. It should be noted that in other embodiments, the analog module 301 can include other components than those illustrated in FIG.

In one embodiment, the ADC 401 samples the input voltage 118 of the drive transistor Q1 at a sampling rate sufficient to observe the shape of the rectified voltage 112 provided by the bridge rectifier BR1. The input voltage 118 to the drive transistor Q1 is equivalent to the rectified input voltage 112 because there is no voltage drop across the inductor L1 during the linear mode (since the power converter 120 is in a constant current mode). In one embodiment, only a limited number of bits, such as the most significant bit of the sample, are required. The scaled sample voltage is represented by the digit of one of the currents through the drive transistor Q1, which is illustrated as I (overflow) in FIG. The current is generally represented by a small integer because the actual current will be a fixed scale factor multiplied by the small integer. In one embodiment, the sample voltage is scaled by a multiplier 403 by driving the current of transistor Q1.

The output 417 of the multiplier 403 represents the instantaneous power dissipated by the drive transistor Q1 because the multiplier 403 multiplies the input voltage 118 to the drive transistor Q1 and the current I (overflow) flowing through the drive transistor Q1. The instantaneous power dissipated by the driving transistor Q1 is input to an integrator 415. As we know, energy is the accumulation of power over time. The energy dissipated by the driving transistor Q1 is accumulated by the integrator 415.

As shown in FIG. 4, integrator 415 includes an adder 405 and a register 409. In general, integrator 415 simulates the heat generated by drive transistor Q1 when the drive transistor Q1 dissipates power, since the magnitude of the various power dissipations is associated with the operating temperature of one of the drive transistors Q1. Thus, the output 419 of the integrator 415 represents the temperature of the drive transistor Q1 as a function of the dissipated energy fed back to the adder 405.

The output 419 of the integrator 415 is also input to the subtractor 411. The subtractor 411 subtracts the energy from the accumulated energy in the register 409. In one embodiment, the output 412 of the subtractor 411 represents the heat flowing out of the drive transistor Q1. A multiplexer 407 periodically turns on the subtractor 411 based on the "overflow loop" signal shown in FIG. Based on the value of the overflow cycle signal, the multiplexer 407 controls whether the multiplexer 407 inputs the output 423 of the adder 405 (which represents the accumulated energy of the drive transistor Q1) to the register 409 at the rising edge of the sampling clock. Whether or not the output 421 of the subtractor 411 is input to the register 409.

In an embodiment, the output 421 of the subtractor 411 causes the integrator 415 to discharge at a rate determined by the discharge rate signal input to the subtractor 411. The subtractor 411 can be turned on periodically every N cycles, so that during normal operation of the driving transistor Q1, the subtractor 411 ensures that the accumulated energy in the integrator 415 does not rise indefinitely. In particular, the subtractor 411 discharges the dissipated energy stored in the register 409, and the register 409 is used to model the temperature of the driving transistor Q1. Therefore, if the drive transistor Q1 is turned off (ie, no current flows through the drive transistor Q1) for a period of time, the dissipated energy in the storage register 409 will eventually be discharged to zero. In an embodiment, the rate of discharge is set such that the energy stored in the register 409 does not increase during normal operation of the LED lamp 20. This is accomplished by setting the discharge rate such that the register 409 models the convective cooling of the drive transistor Q1, which is faster than the heat accumulated in the drive transistor Q1 during operation of the active mode.

When the energy dissipated by the free drive transistor Q1 is subtracted from a cumulative energy threshold, the output 423 of the adder 405, which represents the energy dissipated by the drive transistor Q1, is input to a subtractor 413. In an embodiment, the active mode is in operation when the analog module 301 is initially operated. The drive transistor Q1 is operated for a plurality of cycles (e.g., 3 to 5 cycles) to identify whether the dimmer switch 10 is a leading edge dimmer or a trailing edge dimmer. In general, the plurality of cycles achieved by operating the drive transistor Q1 during the active mode corresponds to the longest duration (i.e., worst case) at which the drive transistor Q1 can be normally operated in the active mode. The energy threshold may correspond to an energy level set to be just higher than the amount of energy dissipated by the drive transistor Q1 during the plurality of cycles. Therefore, if the LED lamp 20 becomes out of sync with the dimmer switch 10, the analog module 301 can use the plurality of cycles to detect an unsafe operating condition.

In one embodiment, if the output 425 of the subtractor 413 is a positive value, the analog module 301 generates a signal indicating that an unsafe operation occurs immediately. As mentioned previously, the energy dissipated by the drive transistor Q1 indicates the temperature of the drive transistor Q1. Therefore, this positive value indicates that the driving transistor Q1 is operating at an unsafe operating temperature because the driving transistor Q1 has dissipated too much energy (since the driving transistor Q1 is already in the active mode ratio than in the driving transistor Q1) One of the time periods expected during normal operation is greater). This signal causes the analog module 301 to turn off the drive transistor Q1 to allow the drive transistor to cool to a safe operating temperature.

In an alternate embodiment, the drain path 411 can be omitted from the circuit diagram of the analog module 301 shown in FIG. In one embodiment, the input to the multiplexer 407 is replaced with a constant value for resetting one of the integrators 415 for a predetermined period of time or a predetermined number of switching cycles. In an embodiment, the constant value can be zero. By replacing the discharge path 411 with the constant value, a threshold value is used to determine the maximum allowable energy consumption of the drive transistor Q1 during the predetermined period of time or the predetermined number of switching cycles.

FIG. 5 illustrates a circuit diagram of an alternate embodiment of an analog module 301. In one embodiment, the analog module 301 includes an ADC converter 501, a multiplier 503, a multiplier 505, an adder 507, a register 509, a multiplier 513, and a subtractor 511. In general, the embodiment of the analog module 301 in FIG. 5 is different from the embodiment of the analog module 301 in FIG. The point is that Figure 5 utilizes a low pass filter 517 (i.e., a leaky integrator) instead of the integrator 415 of Figure 4 and a subtractor 411 that acts as a drain. It should be noted that in other embodiments, the analog module 301 can include other components than those illustrated in FIG.

In one embodiment, the input voltage 118 of the drive transistor Q1 is sampled by the ADC 501 at a sampling rate sufficient to observe the shape of the rectified voltage provided by the bridge rectifier BR1. Similar to Fig. 4, the scaled sampling voltage is represented by a digit of one of the currents I (overflow) through the driving transistor Q1. In one embodiment, multiplier 503 multiplies the sampled voltage by the current through drive transistor Q (i.e., I (overflow)).

Output 515 of multiplier 503 represents the instantaneous power dissipated by drive transistor Q1. The power dissipated by the driving transistor Q1 (for example, x(n)) is input to the low pass filter 517. In one embodiment, low pass filter 517 includes multiplier 505, adder 507, delay register 509, and multiplier 513. In one embodiment, a time constant is modeled to approximate the thermal time constant of the drive transistor Q1 as a function of the thermal resistance θ _ja of the drive transistor Q1 and the thermal capacitance. Therefore, the low pass filter 517 models the cooling of the drive transistor Q1 over time. The thermal resistance is in watts per watt and the thermal capacitance is in watt-seconds per degree Celsius (Joules/Celsius). Therefore, the thermal time constant is the product of the thermal resistance and the thermal capacitance in units of time. Low pass filter 517 models this time constant.

If the thermal resistance and thermal capacitance of the driving transistor are known, the analog module 301 can determine a thermal time constant, which is shown by the rise and fall of the operating temperature of the driving transistor Q1 caused by different power consumption. duration. In general, low pass filter 517 is a one-order infinite impulse response (IIR) configuration associated with the following transfer function (1) and time constant τ (2): y ( n ) = y ( n -1). (1- a )+ ax ( n ) (1)

Using the time constant from Equation 2, the simulation module 301 adjusts the a value in the transfer function of Equation 1 to have approximately the same time constant as shown in Equation 2. This allows the analog module 301 to simulate the heat flowing out of the self-driving transistor Q1 without the need for the ejector in the embodiment of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the multiplier 505 scales the instantaneous power (eg, x(n)) dissipated by the driving transistor Q1 by a scaling factor "a" to cause ax(n) input to the adder 507. The output is 525. Output 519 of adder 507, which represents the dissipated energy of drive transistor Q1, is input to delay register 509, which delays the scaled instantaneous energy to cause output 521 (eg, y(n-1) ). Multiplier 513 multiplies the scaled instantaneous energy by a scaling factor "1-a" to result in an output 523 of "y(n-1)(1-a)". In one embodiment, the combination of multiplier 513 and delay register 509 models the thermal package of drive transistor Q1. The adder 507 adds the output 523 of the multiplier 513 to the output of the multiplier 505 to produce an output 519 ("y(n)") representing the instantaneous thermal energy contained in the drive transistor Q1, which is the dissipation energy minus Encapsulate the energy flowing out.

When the energy dissipated by the free drive transistor Q1 is subtracted from a cumulative energy threshold, the output 519 of the adder 507 is input to the subtractor 511. In one embodiment, if the output 527 of the subtractor 511 is a positive value, the analog module 301 generates a signal indicating that an unsafe operation occurs immediately. This signal causes the analog module 301 to turn off the drive transistor Q1 to allow the drive transistor to cool to a safe operating temperature.

In the above disclosure, a digital implementation is used to monitor the power consumption across the drive transistor Q1. In an alternate embodiment, an equivalent analog circuit (eg, a filter and integrator) or analog circuit in combination with one of the digital implementations can be used to monitor the power dissipation across the drive transistor Q1.

FIG. 6 illustrates an LED lamp system including a dimmer switch 10 and an LED lamp 60. The LED lamp system of Figure 6 contains components similar to the LED lamp system shown in Figure 1. Unless otherwise stated, the components of the LED lamp system shown in Figure 6 are implemented in the LED lamp system of Figure 1. The functions of the components are similar.

Compared with the LED lamp of FIG. 1 20, LED lamp 60 comprises coupled via a resistor R _I to the rectified input voltage is one of a piezoelectric crystal 112 points Q2. In one embodiment, the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 is a MOSFET. However, other switching devices such as a BJT may be used in other embodiments.

In the LED lamp 60, the power controller 30 controls the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 to be turned on to draw current from the dimmer switch 10 to thereby allow the internal circuit of the dimmer switch 11 to operate properly. The power controller 30 can cause the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 to function as a switching load, a constant current load, or a switched resistive load depending on the amount of the drive signal 121 applied by the power controller 30 to the base of the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2. value.

Because the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 draws current from the dimmer switch 11, the drive transistor Q1 does not act as a current sink for the power converter 120, as previously described with respect to the embodiment of FIG. The drive transistor Q1 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 acts only as a switching device to deliver power to the output of the power converter 120.

In one embodiment, power controller 30 controls the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 to be turned on to draw current from dimmer switch 11 based on overflow current enable signal 203 as described with respect to Figures 2B and 2C. The overflow current enable signal 203 cycles between a turn-on state 207 and a turn-off state 205 to indicate when the power controller 30 turns on the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 to draw current from the dimmer switch 11.

When the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 is turned on, the power controller 30 monitors the power consumption across the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2 by predicting the power consumption of the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2, as previously described with respect to FIGS. 3 through 5. When the power controller 30 determines an unsafe operating condition based on the predicted power consumption of the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2, the power controller 30 can turn off the divided piezoelectric crystal Q2.

After reading the present invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate additional alternative designs for controlling the mode of operation of the power converter. Accordingly, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it is understood that the embodiments discussed herein are not limited to the precise The various modifications, changes and variations of the methods and apparatus disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

10‧‧‧Dimmer switch

11‧‧‧ Dimming input signal

20‧‧‧Lighting diode (LED) light

30‧‧‧Power Controller

40‧‧‧ Current Regulator

110‧‧‧Light input voltage / AC voltage / dimmer output voltage

112‧‧‧Rectified input voltage / rectified input signal

114‧‧‧DC output voltage

116‧‧‧Control signal

118‧‧‧Input voltage

120‧‧‧Power Converter

BR1‧‧‧Bridge Rectifier

C _I ‧‧‧ capacitor

C1‧‧‧ capacitor

D1‧‧‧ diode

I _B ‧‧‧base current

L1‧‧‧Inductors

Q1‧‧‧Drive transistor

Rs‧‧‧Sense Resistors

VAC‧‧‧AC input voltage signal

Claims (20)

A light emitting diode (LED) lamp comprising: a switching power converter comprising: a magnetic component coupled to an output voltage of one of the dimmer switches having phase angle switching and coupled to the switching power conversion An output of the dimmer switch is received as an input voltage of the switching power converter; a switch coupled to the magnetic component to generate a current through the magnetic component when the switch is turned on, And not generating a current through the magnetic assembly when the switch is turned off; and a controller configured to generate a control signal to turn the switch on or off during each of the switching cycles of the switch; wherein the controller is grouped Operating the switch in a first mode to transfer electrical power to the output of the switching power converter or operating the switch in a second mode to cause the switch to act as a current slot; wherein the controller is grouped State to estimate the power dissipated by the switch during the second mode to determine whether the switch is close to an unsafe operating condition; a current regulator coupled to the switching function The output of the converter, the current regulator receiving the electrical power delivered by the switching power converter; and one or more LEDs coupled to an output of the current regulator; wherein the current regulator is based on One of the controllers controls the signal to regulate the current through the one or more LEDs. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the open relationship is a bipolar junction transistor. The LED lamp of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to continuously switch between one of a saturation mode and a cutoff mode of the bipolar junction transistor during the first mode The operation of the switch. An LED lamp of claim 2, wherein during the second mode the controller is configured to operate the switch in an active mode of the bipolar junction transistor to cause the switch to function as the switching power converter The current slot. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the opening is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to turn off the switch in response to the estimated power dissipated by the switch exceeding a threshold, the threshold indicating that the switch is in proximity to the unsafe operating condition . The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the switch acts as the current sink to draw current from the dimmer switch coupled to the switching power converter to cause the dimmer switch to properly adjust an input voltage of the switching power converter . The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises: an analog to digital converter (ADC) for sampling an input voltage; a multiplier coupled to the ADC to receive the sampled input voltage and based on the sampling An input voltage and a current through the switch to calculate power dissipated by the switch during the second mode; an integrator coupled to the multiplier to receive power dissipated by the switch and based on dissipation by the switch Simulating the energy dissipated by the switch during the second mode; and a subtractor for comparing the energy dissipated by the switch with a threshold to determine whether the switch is in proximity to the unsafe operation condition. The LED lamp of claim 1, wherein the controller further comprises: a second subtractor that frees energy simulated by the integrator to remove energy indicative of heat flowing from the switch. The LED light of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises: a type of analog to digital converter (ADC) for sampling an input voltage; a multiplier coupled to the ADC to receive the sampled input voltage and calculated at the second based on the sampled input voltage and current through the switch The power dissipated by the switch during mode; a low pass filter coupled to the multiplier to receive power dissipated by the switch from the multiplier and based on the power dissipated by the switch and the switch lapses over time Cooling to simulate energy dissipated by the switch during the second mode; and a subtractor coupled to the low pass filter to compare the energy dissipated by the switch with a threshold to determine the switch Whether it is close to this unsafe operating condition. The LED lamp of claim 10, wherein the low pass filter comprises: a second multiplier for calculating energy dissipated by the switch after the switch is cooled over time; a delay register, Resisting the energy dissipated by the switch and delaying the energy dissipated by the switch; and a third multiplier coupled to the delay register to calculate the switch based on the cooling of the switch over time One of the energy dissipated is a scaled representation. A method of controlling a light emitting diode (LED) lamp in a controller, the LED lamp comprising a switching power converter, the switching power converter comprising: a magnetic component coupled to one of phase angle switching One of the optical switch outputs a voltage coupled to one of the output of the switching power converter, the output voltage of the dimmer switch is received as an input voltage of the switching power converter; and a switch coupled to the magnetic a component that generates a current through the magnetic component when the switch is turned on and does not generate a current through the magnetic component when the switch is turned off; the LED light further includes: a current regulator coupled to the switching power converter An output, a current regulator receives electrical power delivered by the switching power converter; and one or more LEDs coupled to an output of the current regulator, the method package Included: generating a control signal to turn the switch on or off during each switching cycle of the switch; operating the switch in a first mode to deliver electrical power to the output of the switching power converter, or in a second The switch is operated in a mode to cause the switch to act as a current sink; and the power dissipated by the switch during the second mode is estimated to determine if the switch is near an unsafe operating condition. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening relationship is a bipolar junction transistor. The method of claim 13, further comprising: continuously switching the operation of the switch between one of a saturation mode and a cutoff mode of the bipolar junction transistor during the first mode. The method of claim 13, further comprising: operating the switch in an active mode of the bipolar junction transistor to cause the switch to act as the current sink of the switching power converter. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. The method of claim 12, further comprising: turning off the switch in response to the estimated power dissipated by the switch exceeding a threshold, the threshold indicating that the switch is in proximity to the unsafe operating condition. The method of claim 12, wherein estimating the power dissipated by the switch comprises: sampling the input voltage; calculating a power dissipated by the switch during the second mode based on the sampled input voltage and the current through the switch; Simulating the energy dissipated by the switch during the second mode by the power dissipated by the switch; The energy dissipated by the switch is compared to a threshold to determine if the switch is close to the unsafe operating condition. The method of claim 13, wherein the switch acts as the current sink to draw current from the dimmer switch coupled to the switching power converter to cause the dimmer switch to properly adjust an input voltage of the switching power converter. A light emitting diode (LED) lamp comprising: a first switch coupled to an output voltage of one of the dimmer switches having a phase angle switch, the output voltage of the dimmer switch being received as the LED One of the lamp input voltages; a switching power converter comprising: a magnetic component coupled to the input voltage of the LED lamp and coupled to an output of the switching power converter; a second switch coupled to The magnetic assembly generates a current through the magnetic assembly when the second switch is turned on and does not generate a current through the magnetic assembly when the second switch is turned off; and a controller configured to generate a control signal to Turning on or off the second switch during each of the switching cycles of the second switch; wherein the controller is configured to turn on the first switch to draw current from the dimmer switch; wherein the controller is configured to Estimating the power dissipated by the first switch when the first switch is turned on; and wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the first switch is in proximity to an unsafe operation based on the estimated power dissipated by the first switch a current regulator coupled to the output of the switching power converter, the current regulator receiving electrical power delivered by the switching power converter; and one or more LEDs coupled to the current regulator One of the outputs; Wherein the current regulator adjusts current through the one or more LEDs based on a control signal from one of the controllers.